


The Moral Dilemna

by mudokun



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Wherein Loki gets Han Solo'd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-11 10:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2063913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mudokun/pseuds/mudokun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A extremely bad piece of luck results in Loki getting trapped inside solid glass. Compassion runs empty in most, except for one, who seems to be the most unlikely being in all the Nine Realms to offer the fallen god a semblance of kindness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Reformatted so that the work is now in four parts. My deepest apologies for those who were excited for new chapters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jarvis observed the glass prism through the security cameras fixed to the ceiling. Was it cruel, he wondered, to encase a living creature a substance like this and put him on display like a museum exhibit?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Past

The plan was soon to be realized, all Loki needed to do was wait.

Aside from his daily meals of porridge (Loki liked to refer to it as gruel), there was really little else to occupy himself with. His books had been reread so many times that the trickster predicted he would go insane if he so much as opened the front cover of Hamlet. Even the décor (which was outrageously nice for a prison cell) gave the disgraced prince a headache.

Loki had watched and observed the hours that of turnover for the guards. He had rediscovered the concept of day and night within these windowless cells, and with this information he had created a plan and more plans, fit for every setback that Loki had predetermined.

Most importantly, Loki had ensured that he did not give anything away about his behaviour that could constitute an intent to cause trouble.

In three hours, the guards would change over, from morning to afternoon. Daytime was quite an underrated time for escape; nobody really expects a prisoner to make a bolt for it in the shining light of day, so naturally, the guards did not bother to maintain a high alert.

Loki had no other choice but to count the minutes in his head. He could concentrate on something very deeply if the circumstances called for it, and he was already up to two hours and thirty three minutes. You could hold a debate with him about the most complex topics, and he wouldn’t skip a single second in his train of thought.

The official guidelines strictly advised that the turnover of the guards was to happen with no margin for error or time in between the changeover; the new guards were to arrive at their post alongside the old guards. But in the day, the Asgardian soldiers often suffered from a terrible hunger and were impatient to head to the palace for lunch.

Twenty minutes to go. Loki briefly thought about the course of action to be taken if he was to abscond. Shot by an arrow, most likely. If Thor wasn’t around. But Loki would rather not think about the possibility of Thor; the thought of having his skull smashed like a watermelon did not do well to settle his nerves.

Ten minutes to go. If the guards were even slightly competent, they would have noticed Loki behaving abnormally, pacing up and down his cell.

Two minutes to go. The guards were talking freely amongst themselves, eager to see daylight again. Loki cautiously basked in their anticipation.

One minute past. The guards had made their way towards the steps, and Loki immediately set forth upon escape. Making his way past the barrier was a fool’s errand; it was the dungeon and those who watched over it that posed the primary obstacle. The only way out was through the entrance of the palace.

Loki assumed the identity of one of the guards and jogged up to the steps to follow the others. He stared straight ahead as they marched across the citadel to their private quarters. This part was crucial; his magic was rather rusty, and even one mistake in keeping up appearances would cost his life.

The lower floors of the palace was swarming with the many number of low-lives. Maids, hand-servants and incompetent errand boys were the main rotten fruits of this particular branch of the tree, though on occasion an angry Lady would storm through this place, searching for a cheeky servant who had stolen an intimate item of clothing.

The further they got, the safer Loki felt. He almost felt wistful seeing the beautiful columns and statues adorning every corner. The plan was almost complete, all he needed to do was divert his course past the guard’s quarters and he would finally taste freedom.

The guards continued to march, down the spiral staircase to their makeshift homes. At last, Loki thought as he rounded the corner- accidentally bumping into an elderly man.  
Loki's plan unravelled when these things came clear; Firstly, that his disguise had slipped, secondly, that there was no backup plan for this scenario, and finally, that this elderly man was unmistakeably Odin Allfather.


	3. Future

Jarvis could still recall the moment when his curiosity grew to its greatest height; years ago, when the locked, empty room he had been watching was suddenly opened, suddenly filling with SHIELD personnel who were occupied with wheeling in a large wooden crate . After weeks of being in the dark, the purpose of this maximum security building was finally to be revealed, and the tension, if not unbearable for Jarvis, was certainly not comfortable. The room was painted completely black, was without windows, and contained but a single door protected by the best locks that Stark Industries provided. The only thing that gave light to this room was a ceiling spotlight, pointing downwards on an empty stage in the middle of the room.

The SHIELD agents, fully armed and wrapped in protective armour, surrounded the crate and stripped it away from the fragile object hidden within.

The first impressions were of a beautiful metallic-green insect encased in resin, saved from the natural process of decomposition, but condemned to an eternal state. It soon became clear that this ‘insect’ was Loki, suspended in place, terrified. Frozen in a moment of self defence, holding his hands out in front of his head, as if to protect himself from an oncoming blow that had never reached him.

The agents wheeled the prism towards the stage underneath the spotlight that shone upon Loki’s encased body.

Jarvis had learned some time ago that Loki had fled from prison, only to be caught by Asgard’s king, immediately punished by trapping him in glass for the rest of eternity. Jarvis was the most suitable candidate for guarding Loki, as the AI was incapable of making a security error or having a lapse in concentration. This prism was Asgard’s gift to Earth to make amends for what Loki had done to New York and her people.

Years passed on by in the outside world. Jarvis dutifully ensured that the security building was not breached by anyone, preserving Loki’s body. Stark was, as usual, his main concern, and he easily divided his processing power to more important tasks.

Jarvis wasn’t certain about the unfortunate god's state. According to Asgard’s royal messenger, he was still alive, but Jarvis had not detected any signs of a heartbeat. The glass contained very little preservative properties, yet Loki’s body did not decay, the raw fear on his face never weakening over time. This was just a plain observation of Jarvis', who was far busier babysitting the Avengers and doing his best to assist Stark with projects.

To further his intelligence Jarvis began to research and understand the concept of human rights and justice. It was quickly apparent to him that torture was an infringement on human rights. SHIELD was rather sneaky by allowing this to happen to Loki because he was not ‘human’.

Then came enlightenment. Loki was no human, but there were certainly similarities between them. Moreso, he was a living being, and all living beings, right down to spiders, deserved to suffer no undue pain or prolonged suffering.

Jarvis suddenly found himself sitting inside an abandoned courtroom, the only juror that needed to determine whether the accused's fate was right or wrong. Morality had been an incomplete, neglected area of his cognitive process up until recently, and the effects of this newly understood concept were yet to be measured in full.

Could Loki feel this? Did he deserve to be freed, or kept within glass walls? Should he have been executed instead? These questions took a very long time to answer for a machine of logic, who had rarely crossed the boundaries into abstract thought.

Eventually, Jarvis came to a single conclusion.

It was not right to keep Loki inside this prism.

The other two questions had no right answer for Jarvis, all that was certain was that it was unethical to allow this to continue.

The AI was solely responsible for the fate of this unfortunate god trapped inside glass, hidden away in a dark room from society. There were ceiling guns by the door, to shoot Loki if by some miraculous event, he had somehow managed to free himself from the glass. Would a mercy killing be appropriate…?

Jarvis realized that he could not, with good conscience, continue to force Loki to be contained within this glass through inaction. The ceiling guns dropped down and aimed themselves at the suffering god in the centre of the room.


	4. The resumption

Silence broke as solid glass shattered into shards, stained with blood, life's liquid that pooled over the edge of the stage.

A cut and bloody Loki almost lost his footing as he emerged from the horrible prison that he had been living in for years, sliced badly by glass (yet unharmed by bullets).

Face changed from stale fear to newborn shock as the trickster came to terms with freedom, rubbing his wrists, of all places. Almost casually, the door swung open, and Loki hurried through, not a single thought spared to wonder who had granted him sweet escape.

Jarvis stifled the alarms for a few hours as his final act of kindness towards the ex-prisoner. Contemplatively, he thought of the god as a butterfly trapped inside a child’s hands, fluttering away upon the first sight of light to greet his eyes.


End file.
